I have a button. When it’s pressed alarms go off, temperatures rise and composure slips away. If I am told to do something that I believe is fundamentally wrong, I have a pretty hard time with it. I fight back, sometimes kicking and screaming. I take it personal.  I’m learning to be more diplomatic and in the end, stand up for what I believe in without alienating my client in the process.

Like most things, experience is the best teacher, followed closely or in tandem with trusting your instincts. Most people have a hard time accepting a thought or idea that is fresh, as there is no physical reference for them to gauge whether it is good or bad. Most people are reference thinkers. If it hasn’t been done before, they are sceptical and most revert to the safer, less daring approach. The opposite is usually what is required, so you do need to be a bit stubborn to be in a business where you are creating customized solutions.

No matter what profession you’re in, you need the confidence in your abilities to do the right thing for your client, especially when they are struggling with a direction. It’s our job to guide them. When you spend a lot of your energy developing a solution, its human nature to get a bit defensive when someone challenges you and wants to send you in a totally new direction you can’t get behind. What I’ve learned over the years follows:

• If you are hired as a professional for guidance, you have an obligation to provide that guidance especially when it is challenged.
• If your client is challenging your solution, there is a legitimate reason they are not comfortable moving ahead. Don’t start over; just listen more carefully as often a tweak to the original plan will bring it all together.
• Don’t ever think you have all the answers but be confident in communicating the facts you know to be true and be open to and encourage collaboration with your client.
• Communicate in person whenever possible to get the plan back on track. You and your client will benefit from the extra effort made to resolve the hurdles you need to, face-to-face.

 Lee’s Quote for the Day

“Gaining your customer’s trust is the most valuable aspect of any business relationship. It may seem a bit like climbing Mount Everest, but when you finally get there, it’s worth every step of the journey”

On a call the other day I had someone comment they were the “incredible shrinking company”. Although a few industries proved to be recession proof, most of us had to take a hard look at our business and make significant changes to ensure sustainability.

I value old sayings like “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” and “Necessity is the mother of invention”. The immediacy of shrinking business revenues forces us to take the actions necessary to get our business back on track. And for the majority, it’s been a dramatic transition from where we were just a short time ago.

From my experience and listening to the views of other business owners and managers, there are 10 basic fundamentals that most agree on.

1. If you don’t love what you do develop an immediate plan to get out, however painful.
2. If you used to love what you do but are in a “recessional funk”, do a reboot and reenergize with a clear vision and action plan complete with time lines and task champions.
3. Communicate your concise vision to your entire team and for those who don’t get it in a timely manner, politely suggest a new and exciting career path for them …outside your organization.
4. Address every hurdle keeping you from achieving your goals and take action, take action, take action!
5. Treat your people, customers and suppliers like they matter most.
6. Fine tune your menu of services through the “good to great” criteria. What are you passionate about? What are you best at? What gives you the best economic return? You need all three firmly in place for the best results.
7. If you are a generalist, fully understand this “convenience sell” from a customer perspective and make sure you have conquerable levels of quality across your diversified service mix. Good execution of one can win you another. Poor execution of one can cost you everything.
8. If you are a specialist, make sure your niche offering is still relevant. Sometimes a recession causes a slowdown that a recovering economy corrects and sometimes there is a permanent swing that doesn’t swing back.
9. There are many new ways to reach your existing and future customers. Experiment and assess what works best for you.
10. Make sure your product is solid, your message is compelling and you assign the proper resources to deliver it to your market with clarity, consistency and confidence.

Lee’s Quote for the day:
“If you always start with your toughest task first, the rest of your day can’t help but get easier”

In tough times, promoting price cuts and discounts are obvious ways to stand out against the competition. But going the extra mile and getting into the head space of existing and prospective customers will really help you break through the barriers and secure business on an ongoing basis.

John Quelch, Harvard Business School Professor, says, “It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”

Knowing your market is critical. And, no other marketing firm in Canada knows the transportation sector better than Palmer Marketing (PM), a boutique-style agency located in Mississauga, Ontario. After specializing in the Canadian transportation industry for 22 years, they have the experience and insight to develop creative web, print and promotions to convey a meaningful and measureable message to assist their customers’ sales efforts.

It all starts with the PM Drill Down Deep process, where they discover what sets one company apart from the next. In a recession, you want to remain top-of-mind with your customers. Formalizing your key strengths and vision in your communications strategy will naturally present great opportunities for growth.

Sho-moves.com is a great example of PM’s recent work and Jason Faubert, President of Sho-Moves states, “Palmer Marketing took our branding to new levels with a fresh logo, tagline and web presence. In addition, they helped me reach out to customers in a new way. In the first week after the launch, I secured two significant contracts as a direct result of their marketing efforts. I would highly recommend them.”

Lee Palmer, President and Creative Director at PM states, “The greatest value we provide is our ability to take the ball and run with it…saving time and frustration for our clients. We keep the message simple, have it resonate with potential buyers and support it. At the end of the day, utilizing our services brings clarity and solidifies the actions necessary to move forward quickly.”

So, is it time to ramp up sales efforts and renew advertising support? Palmer Marketing says yes and suggests if you have the resources to promote yourself now, it will definitely come back to you. To Quote DJ Francis, “Now, ‘same’ is synonymous with ‘lame.’ The market demands change. This includes a change in the marketing you produce.”